That's why he won't go out
by ggirl72
Summary: This is just like my alternate ending of Weeping Willows...you know how it is. Starts after Gil's " That's why I don't go out" comment
1. Default Chapter

Title :don't really have one yet..sorry

This is just like my alternate endingof WeepingWillows...you know how it is.

G/C of course

**_Spoilers : Weeping Willows_**

Starts off where Gil walked away...

* * *

Catherine stood there stunned. Why the hell was he so mad? What had she done so wrong?

Not knowing any of the answers herself she looked around at the people watching her. They seemed to be looking at her differently. like they were disappointed or ashamed. Like Gil seemed to be.

Unable to handle herself anymore she stormed into her office and slammed the door shut behind her. The events of the past few days lingered in her mind.

"How the hell did I get in to such a mess?" she asked herself as she pulled out her mirror to check the scratch on her cheek.

"It looks a lot better." a voice came form the doorway

Catherine looked up as Ecklie just barged into her office and closed the door behind him.

Not sure what he wanted or not really wanting to know she just watched him as he took it upon himself to sit down and get comfortable.

"Can I help you with something?" she asked coldly trying to make it obvious that she wasn't in the mood for any of his crap.

"We never got to finish our little discussion."

Catherine looked confused " Yeah, but he was the killer so what does it matter now?"

Ecklie nodded " It matters because you seem to get your self into these little spats quite often."

Catherine sat up in her chair " What are you taking about exactly?"

Ecklie scoffed " Well you go to a bar, and pick up a complete stranger and I know you say you never had sex but.."

Catherine cut him " I never had sex with him!"

Ecklie nodded and continued " Yes, that's what you said but Catherine your a beautiful women, you seem to have a bad track record for relationships and you want some release. So you pick up this guy, you lead him on, make him think he's going all the way, then after it happens you feel ashamed, because you just met him and no he thinks" he paused " No he knows your one of those easy ones."

Catherine glared at him " How dare you, you can talk to me like this,  
I want you to leave. Get out of my office!"

"You mean my office, I can have you demoted" he smiled " You know that day Sara made that comment about you and men, I think she was right."

Catherine shook her head. She didn't have to take this, She had rights, There were boundaries and he was crossing them.

Catherine stood up and went to the door, after opening she turned back to Ecklie "Leave please"

Ecklie turned around in his chair " You like your job Catherine?"

Catherine didn't answer but he knew the answer.

"Well then SIT DOWN!" he yelled

Catherine watched him a second before closing the door and taking her seat.

"Now " Ecklie started as he leaned in forward " Let's recap, you lead him on, you had sex with him and then you try and frame or what exactly happened?"

Catherine didn't answer so he went on

"So then you decide to withhold information making our whole department look stupid." he paused once more " The point is you clearly show no remorse for your actions and .." he trailed off

Catherine kept her focus on her desk

"And...there are consequences for them so I spoke with Atwater and he seem to think suspension without pay would be good for you. Two days."

Catherine opened her mouth to protest but he spoke for her.

"Save it. Two days. I'll lead you out."

Catherine slowly got up, her heart was racing. She packed up a few things and walked ahead of Ecklie as he escorted her from the building like a criminal.

* * *

Catherine sat on her couch staring at the wall. She was so lost in a daze she never heard the front door open. 

"Mom?" Lindsey called What are you doing here? Where's Grandma?"

Catherine wiped her tear stained cheeks and put a smile on her face " Hey baby, I just needed a few days from work is all, so we and you could spend some time together so Grandma went home."

Lindsey's face lit up. " Really. Cool" she ran to her bedroom and dropped her school bag.

"So what are we going to do?"

"Anything you want" Catherine replied.

"Okay." Lindsey turned and headed back to her bedroom " Give me ten minutes to change and then I let you know."

Catherine nodded and watched her daughter run off. Once Lindsey door shut the smile on her face disappeared and she sat back on the couch and once again was caught in her daze.

Ten minutes later Lindsey came out in her pajamas.

"Mom?" Lindsey sat next to her on the couch. "Are you okay?

Catherine turned to her daughter fresh tears in her eyes " Yeah baby" she wiped them away " I m fine, I thought you were going to.."

"I thought maybe we could just watch movies together.." she paused " Maybe talk."

Catherine nodded and sat back on the couch and Lindsey curled up next to her

"What do you want to talk about?" Catherine asked

Lindsey sighed " That man." she replied " The man you called the cops on the other night."

"Okay" Catherine responded even though she didn't want to get into it with her thirteen year old. "What do you want to know?"

"Is he knew..at your work I mean, because I never met him before."

Catherine shook her head even though Lindsey couldn't see her " No, he doesn't work with me."

"Why did you call the police, I mean he wasn't doing anything wrong, he was " she stopped " He seemed really nice, grandma liked him."

Catherine sat up turning Lindsey to face her " Because I thought he had done something wrong Lindsey and he shouldn't have come to our home."

Lindsey nodded " Did he kill someone?"

Catherine sighed " Linds..it's not...Can we talk about something else?"

Lindsey rolled her eyes " Your cheek" she pointed " You never told me what happened."

"It's nothing sweetie, you don't have to worry about it" she paused as Lindsey rested her head on her shoulder "How was school?"

Lindsey sighed " It was okay, my math teacher hates me. But the kids are nice, they don't hate me, they don't make fun of me and so I don't fight with them, not like I used to do at my old school."

Catherine smiled to herself, Lindsey had been making good progress " I'm proud of you ya know." she whispered placing a kiss on her daughters head " You hungry?"

Lindsey 's head shot up " Pizza?"

Catherine shrugged "If that's what you want."

Lindsey jumped up " I'll get the phone book." she went to run through the kitchen but stopped " And then when we eat you can tell me why you were crying ."

Catherine nodded " Yeah.." she whispered as Lindsey disappeared " I guess so.."

TBC


	2. 2

Title :Why he won't go out

This is just like my alternate ending...you know how it is.

Spoilers : Weeping Willows

Disclaimer: I don't own anything

Chapter 2

* * *

Catherine stretched out on the couch and Lindsey followed squeezing next to her. The pizza box, now empty was thrown on the floor beside them and the tv was blaring. 

"So" Lindsey spoke first " You want to tell me why you were crying?"

Catherine didn't respond.

Lindsey sat up and turned to her mother. " Mom?" she nudged her " Mom?" Lindsey called " You're not sleeping you just laid down. So stop avoiding me and the question."

Catherine opened one eye " Lins, I don't think that you and I should be having this discussion."

Lindsey rolled her eyes like she had done s many times " Mom, I'm thirteen, I'm not a baby anymore"

Catherine sat up "I know". But how was she to explain that her best friend was mad at her, disappointed, possibly even disgusted with her. How was she to explain that she picked up a man at a bar, A complete stranger and got hot and heavy with him in the parking lot and then he got violent with her. How was she to explain that according to Adam Novak, she was a bitch and a tease. How was she to explain that she was suspended because Ecklie was being his regular jerk off self and basically implied she as a slut. How...she didn't know. So she avoided this moment all evening.

"Mom?" Lindsey called again " You always make e talk about the things that are bothering me so come on I want to help, I hate t when you cry it makes me feel bad." she paused " I wasn't me was it? Did I do something wrong?"

Catherine looked up at her " No baby..no you didn't do anything wrong, you've been really great, I told you I was proud" she hugged her " And I am really, you didn't do anything, it's just that me and Grissom had a fight and he's mad at e right now, and you know how I hate it when Grissom's is mad at me."

Lindsey nodded " SO call him, he'll be in his office and you two can talk it out, tell him your sorry."

Catherine nodded " No sweetie, i don't think so, I think Grissom and I ..I think..." she trailed off.

"You think that you won't be best friends anymore.?"

Catherine nodded " Yeah," a tear slid down her cheek. " Something like that."

Lindsey leaned in and wiped away her tear" Give him time, he loves you. Your his best friend and he won't just let you go."

* * *

next day... 

Gil walked through in search for Catherine. He entered her office thinking he would find her and have her sign some papers so he could close up the case.

"She's not here." a voice came..but it wasn't her.

Gil waited for the person in the chair to reveal himself.

"Ecklie? Where's Catherine?"

Ecklie put his feet up on her desk and looked around. Picking up a picture of Lindsey he smiled " She was suspended, I'm surprised you didn't know, actually I'm surprised that your surprised, you know her actions had to be dealt with."

Gil nodded " Why are you in her office?"

Ecklie shrugged " No reason , I was just thinking that she had a chance to redeem herself after she let her memory card get stolen, after she blew up my lab. But she keeps messing up, it's like she doesn't care if she even keeps her job, so I was just sitting her thinking that maybe she really doesn't like her job as supervisor and she should be demoted before she brings the lab down and everyone with it."

"Why would you do that to her, You suspended her isn't that enough and how long dose she have to pay for the accidental explosion over a year ago? And the evidence that was stolen wasn't her fault either, the scene was not secure and that's not her job. You can't just use things against her from the past when you see fit."

Ecklie didn't say anything, he put the picture of Lindsey back on her desk and stood up. " What are you worried about? I caught wind of the fact you were pretty upset with her your self, why all of a sudden are you defending her honour?"

Gil didn't reply

"Oh well" Ecklie smirked " It's not your decision anyway. " and walked away

* * *

Gil walked toward the front desk with Adam Novak's items in hand. When he reached the man he handed him his key card and the other items taken from him when he was arrested. 

"What?" Adam called after him " No apology?"

Gil stopped and slowly turned around " What do you want me to say? Didn't You already get your apology from Conrad Ecklie?"

Adam nodded " Yeah, but I don't want it from him I want one from her."

Her. Gil knew he was talking about Catherine. " She doesn't owe you anything." he replied coldly " I'm sure the mark you let on her cheek proves that."

Adam scoffed " I didn't touch her, I don't care what she told you. The door slipped, she got what she deserved. That bitch is a liar, and a slut. I can't believe the kind of people that work for the Las Vegas Police Department, it's rather disturbing."

Gil glared at him. He would have loved nothing more then to punch him in the mouth. The things he was saying about Catherine were making him angry and with everything that was going on angry was the last thing he wanted to be.

"You don't know her, and I have nothing to say to you about her just sign for your things and get out of here."

"I heard she was suspended" he commented

Gil furrowed his brow

"What?" Adam snickered " I now know everything about her, you think it was just by chance that I knew where she lived? She never told me, but I work for the city I have access to everything."

Gil let out a deep breath, he wasn't going to get into with this slim bag, he wasn't worth his time. He was ready to walk away once more but Adam continued to talk.

"So, I met her daughter the other night" he paused seeing that Gil was still there " Lindsey I think it was, and Catherine's mother Lily. I can see where Catherine get's her looks. A family full of beautiful women."

Gil listened to him speak of Catherine, Lindsey and her mother like he was a friend of the family.

"Leave" Gil warned " Now"

Adam smiled and dropped the pen. " You're just mad because it wasn't you." With that Adam walked out of the building.

TBC


	3. 3

Title :Why he won't go out

This is just like my alternate ending...you know how it is.

Spoilers : Weeping Willows

Disclaimer: I don't own anything

Chapter 3

* * *

Gil stormed back to his office and slammed the door closed.

As he flopped down at his desk he threw the case file he had in his hand across the room, papers went flying everywhere and he knew once he was done fuming he would have to clean it up and put everything back in order.

"Stupid jerk." he mumbled to himself, " Adam Novak" he scoffed " How dare he!"

Gil sat still in his chair, throwing his head back he closed his eyes and drifted off. This wasn't a normal thing for him to do , it was very rare that he would fall asleep in his office..or at work at all. But he was exhausted, angry, upset, confused. And he felt betrayed.

* * *

Outside the thunder rummbled as Lindsey stummbled from her bed to get a glass of water from the kitchen.

On her way back she noticed her mother still lying on the couch sleeping. Still half asleep, Lindsey took a sip of water and was on her way back to bed when her mother began to soflty whimper.

Lindsey stopped, rubbed her eyes and took a step back.

* * *

Catherine walked toward her vehicle, Adam Novak close behind with an arm across her back.

She turned to say her final good byes, when his arm snaked around her waist and he pressed her against the Denali. Before she could open her mouth to speak his lips crashed into hers.

For a while Catherine was there with him, she even made an attempt to push her tounge in his mouth, she didnt' know why but it was something she was doing.

Adam was all there to, maybe even more so then she. Neither of them broke for a breath as the kiss grew more and more intense. Neither of them pulled away, which to him meant he wasn't going home alone, but if he did he would'nt have been left unsatisfied.

Not wanting things to get anymore out of hand, Catherine pulled away. " I can't do this tonight" she mumbled " I'll call you." With that she turned and pulled the handle on the door.

Adam wasn't having it. He raised his hand and with very little effort closed the door refusing her to enter.

Before she knew what was actually happening Adam was pressed against her again. Before she could push him back his hands took complete control and pinned her own hands behind her back.

Catherine's heart raced and she didn't know what to do. She could'nt fight against him, he was overpowering her. She couldn't tell him to stop because once he had her pinned he forced his tongue into her mouth and he wasn't pulling back.

Catherine tried to move, but she was unsuccesful, she let out a small whimper but Adam ignored her. The next thing she felt was her body being pulled to the side. She heard a door open, and then she felt him violently shove her into the back seat.

With in seconds he had the door closed and the two of them were alone. She opened her mouth to scream and in turn he slapped her across the face, before pinning her down.

* * *

Lindsey now stood over her mother trying so hard to wake her from the terrible nightmare she seemed to be having.

"Mom?" she shook her arm, not wanting to scare her anymore then she seemed to be, but wanting to free her from the horrible things that seemed to be happening. "MOM!"

Catherine snapped out of the dream, her body went shooting upward, the thunder crashed outside as Lindsey flipped on the lamp next to her.

Catherine looked around, he heart was pounding, her body was dripping in sweat, and it was apparent that she was crying for her tears were streaming down her face.

"Mommy?" Lindsey sat next to her.

Catherine dropped her feet to the floor and wiped her tears away " Sorry, baby I ddin't mean to wake you" she whispered trying to avoid the whole thing.

Lindsey shrugged " You didn't I was getting a drink and then you started crying and your were screaming and..I tried to wake you .." she paused " You want me to call Uncle Gil?"

Catherine quickly glanced at her " No!" she snapped

"Okay." Lindsey replied " Sorry, It's just, you're scared mom and you won't tell me why so ..I just thought maybe.."

"NO!" Catherine snapped again cutting her off " I'm fine" she sighed getting up from the couch " Just. You should go back to bed. I'm fine. Really."

Lindsey watched as her mother put up a wall and stormed into the bathroom.

Lindsey waited for awhile hoping her mom would come out from hiding but she never did. Lindsey sighed and stood up, she was going to head back to bed, but after everything she would'nt be doing much sleeping so instead she formulated a small plan. If her mom wasn't going to talk to him on her own. Lindsey would do it for her. Lindsey grabbed the cordless phone and ran to her bedroom just as Catherine emerged from the bathroom and headed straight for her own bedroom.

Catherine lie in her bed, her body reacting to every bolt of thunder and flash of lightning. She felt like a child hiding from the storm but really she was hiding from her dreams.

She rolled over putting her back to the window as if to say she was shutting the storm out, and for a while it worked. Catherine drifted off to sleep but within seconds her eyes were struck open in fear. She sat up in her bed trying desperatley to figure out why this was affecting her so much.

* * *

Gil had only been asleep for a half hour when his own mind started playing tricks on him.

Gil dreamt he had gotten the call to come in. Just like he had that night. He called Catherine becuase there was no one else but this time he didn't get her. Instead her mother told him she hadn't returned home from work.

Gil thought it strange but he knew there was a logical explanation so he thought nothing more of it and headed to the parking lot which was now a crime scene.

When he arrived Brass was on location, he didn't stop to talk to him, which was strange and he could feel himself being pulled toward the body.

"Uncover her face" he called out to David who quickly obliged.

Seconds ater he knew the reason why she never came home. Gil stared down at her, the strawberry blonde curls, her blue eyes, now filled with fear, the gun shot wound on the back of her head that clearly took her from him.

Gil felt sick, everything was spinning, he could tell by the way her body was left that she had been assaulted both sexually and physically.

He could'nt take much more, he turned away, taking a step back and then running, he ony got a few feet before he lost it all together.  
...

Gil was pulled from his sleep when his cell phone vibrated against his side. By the time he picked it up the person on the other end had disconnected.

Gil looked at his caller id " Catherine?" he whispered to himself

* * *

Lindsey sat staring at the phone in her hand. Three times she had dialled his cell phone number and three times she had quickly hung up when she heard him answer.

She didn't know why she was so hesitant. Maybe it was because if he was mad her mom, he was probably mad at her too, or maybe it was because if her mom found out she was calling him, she was going to be in some serious hot water.

Lindsey thought about it some more and came to the conclusion that she didn't care. If her mom got mad it would be worth it as long as she had her best friend back.

Lindsey pushed the talk button on the phone and dialled

* * *

Gil was waiting for it this time and on the first ring he had it answered.

"Catherine I can't talk about this right now."

"No." Lindsey cut him off " It's Lindsey, I know you're mad at my mom but" she paused.

Gil's heart raced " Is she okay, is she hurt." Sure he was angry at her at the moment but if she was hurt he would be at her side in an instant.

"She's having really bad nightmares and she won't talk to me, she woke up screaming about that guy..Adam.. and" Lindsey paused " Uncle Gil? Are you there?"

Gil didn't answer. The anger he felt earlier that week came back to him ten times stronger when he heard that name.

"Uncle Gil?" she tried again. Lindsey sighed and assumed that his phone may have died or he had bad reception. She hung up the phone and fell back on her bed. There wasn't much more she could do.

Gil felt his eyes tearing up, he hated that he had just hung up on Lindsey but he was still hurt and angry. Besides, Catherine was a big girl,s he could take care of herself, she didn't need him, and she proved to him that she didn't want him either so why should he run to her everytime she got herself into some crazy mess. He did'nt have to anymore and as for explaing to her why, well. He would talk to her when he was good and ready.

tbc


	4. 4

Title :Why he won't go out

This is just like my alternate ending...you know how it is.

**_Spoilers: Weeping Willows_**

Disclaimer: I don't own anything

Chapter 4

* * *

Catherine walked into the lab the first day back from her two day suspension in hopes the events that had her taking the last two days off had been forgotten by the others in the lab. But she was wrong. As she walked to her office eyes followed her as if some type of obscene word had been written across her forhead.

Taking a deep breath and holding it in she continued down the path toward her office. Once inside she flopped down at her desk and let her breath out.

Before she could even start to think about catching up on the things she had missed a knock came at her closed door.

When she saw that Ecklie was knocking she hesitated before unlocking and letting him in.

"Ecklie." she greeted him as she stepped aside allowing him acccess

Ecklie nodded and smiled " Catherine." he replied

Taking a seat in the same place he had two days before he dropped a file on the desk. Not waiting until Catherine sat down he cleared his throat and let his left foot rest on his right kneww.

"Catheirne" he began as she headed back to her seat. " I don't want to waste your time, you have missed alot and there are a few things you need to catch up on so I'll get right to the point." he paused and cleared his throat once more " Atwater adn I, as well as some of my superiors have reveiwed and discussed your situation in depth and I.."

"My situaiton? What situation?" Catherine cut him off

Ecklie sighed " I'm getting to it."

Catherine shook her head and let a a small sigh herself, she didn't have time for this, nor did she want to mkae time for it or to deal with it. After the other day's incident she had had about as much as she could handle and she was on the brink of a break down.

"We have discussd you and we feel that an individual in your situation isn't fit to run her own shift, not fit to be a supervisor." he paused seeing her fist clench " Catherine, I just feel that it takes a sort of professionalism, a sort of expertise and ..well.. you don't display this, nor do you demonstrate. I mean seriously did you think that..-"

Catherine cut him off again. " So what was the suspension for, just buying time, what is this a game to you?"

Ecklie didn't respond instead he pulled a paper from the file and handed it to her. " My report as to what we discussed, it will be put on your permanent record, I just need you to sign it."

Catherine ripped the paper from his grasp and quickly scanned through the paragraphs.

"I'm not signing this!" she protested, "you input false information and I won't admit to something I didn't do, you can put it in my file, but I refuse to sign my name to it."

Ecklie rolled his eyes " Catherine, enough with this act, you got yourself into this, did you think the consequences were going to be minor?"

Catherine threw the paper at him " We had this disussion!"

"Catherine as your superior you don't have a chioce, sign it or you can go home."

Catherine nodded " Fine, I couldn't care any less, I have had it up to here with this place, and the people in it, especially you" she screamed

"Calm your self and your tone, you know who your talking to?" Ecklie smirked

Catherine scoffed " Save it for someone who cares, you don't have to send me home, or demand I sign it, I don't care, the only thing you need to put in my file is the a paper saying I quit and you can take this swing shift supervisor job and shove it, I didn't want it anyway."

With that Catherine grabbed her things and stormed out. Halfway down the hall Gil was emerging from the breakroom. He saw her tears were streaming down her face, but there was the look of rage in her eyes.

Catherine stopped just before she slammed into him.

Gil sighed " Cath?" he asked trying to mask the sound of concern in his voice.

Catherine sighed " Don't " she whispered pushed passed

Gil stopped her when reached for her arm at this point in time he was still upset with her but it hurt him even more to see tears in her eyes. " Cath we need to.."

"Don't you touch me!" she snapped " I 'll tell you what I told him, I'm done, I don't care anymore, I can't do this anymore, I can't be here and pretend I'm happy when I'm not, my kid has no idea what it's like to spend time with her mother anymore because she never sees me, I'm here all the time, and I have nothing else, so I try to get something else and then you get mad, I don't know what to do, I'm sick if trying to please people and I'm sick of being alone, but apparently I can't find a solution for both, so I do what I have to do, for me and for my daughter."

"Can't we go somewhere and talk?" was his reply

Catherine scoffed " Damn it...you..what? did you not hear me? This it, I won't be a disappointment to you, I won't hide things from your or keep things from you because it won't matter. What I do now is my own business, it has nothing to do with you and to be honest it never really did, so you can hate me , or be mad and disappointed or whatever is is that you feel, if you feel at all, because you and me , what ever friendship was there, what ever we had left," she paused " Is gone, were done."

Before he could try and respond she was out of the lab and out of his life.

Gil turned to go back to his office when Ecklie came up behind him. " It's a shame" he commented as Gil turned to avoid him " She was a good csi"

Gil glared at him " Was.." he repeated

Ecklie shurgged " She quit, I don't why, but she did,"

Gil watched as Ecklie sauntered out of sight before continue to his office and shutting himself away from the world.

* * *

When Gil woke up from is sleep he realized he was still in the darkness of his office and still confused. Looking at his watch he noticed the time was nearing the start of his shift and he knew the other members of his team would be waiting for him.

He grabbed some folders and headed toward the breakroom, surprisingly he was the first person to arrive and he sat down at the table and waited.

Sara, and Greg were heading into the room when he got the call.

Gil answered his cell phone. " Lindsey?"

On the other line he could hear Lindsey crying. "Uncle Gil please don't hang up on me, I need you to help."

"Sweetie what's wrong?"

"Mom, she's ..she's not here, she hasn't come home, she called and said she was coming, but, Grandma and I have been waiting for hours,Uncle Gil, I'm worried. I know your mad at her right now, but..she's,.. she hasn't been sleeping and she's been crying and afraid, I think it's because of that man...Adam, what if he hurt her?"

Gil sighed " I'm sure she's fine, tell your Grandma I'll be there soon okay."

Lindsey sniffled through her response. " Okay, please hurry."

TBC


	5. 5

Title :Why he won't go out

This is just like my alternate ending...you know how it is.

Spoilers : Weeping Willows

Disclaimer: I don't own anything

Chapter 6

* * *

Catherine sat in the driver seat of her vehicle, she placed her trembling hands on the steering wheel but she was far too emotional to drive. She sat back on her seat wondering how things had gone this far, how things had gotten so out of hand but she always came back to the same conclusion. She wanted a social life, she wanted to work, but couldn't have both, so she did what she had to do. She quit. But as she sat inside the Denali shielded from the rain she wished she hadn't and tears streamed down her face.

After sitting for a while longer she tried again to take some kind of action. She let out a deep breath and turned the key in the ignition. As the engine revved she closed her eyes and took another deep breath, now she had to go and face it all, her mother and her daughter.

As she drove down the abandon Las Vegas streets she continuously ignored the vibrating cell phone on the seat beside her. Taking one glance at the screen and decided that no one in their right mind would want to talk to her, especially not him.

Pulling into her driveway she noticed the matching blue Denali on the side of the road. Not being thrilled at all that he had come to her home, she hesitated before entering her house.

Stepping inside she slammed the door shut and looked up at the three faces staring back at her.

Her mother didn't even bother to ask what had happened to her " You quit you're job?"

Catherine glared at her as she kicked off her wet shoes. " Don't even mother, I'm not in the mood and I won't be for quite some time so save it, I know you will." With that she sighed, threw her keys on the table by the door and headed toward the bathroom.

Gil stopped her as she headed past him and refused to make any contact whatsoever.

"That's it?" he took her arm in his hand. " You have nothing to say?"

Catherine ripped away from him " Don't you touch me!" she snapped "Why the hell are you even here?"

Gil shook his head " I can't believe you, you drop a bombshell on us at the lab and you quit, then you disappear without any word to anyone, do you know how worried we were? How worried Lindsey was?"

Catherine looked over at her daughter who still had tears in her eyes as she sat on the bottom step watching her."Lindsey I'm.."

Lindsey stood up" You quit you're job?"

Catherine stepped forward ' Sweetie, I didn't want you to find out like this but."

Lindsey didn't wait for a response, she just turned and stormed off to her room.

Catherine turned back to Gil in time to see her mother grab her things and leave the house. " Great, you happy know, you manage to screw up what little decent home life I had left, you must be so proud, you want a certificate you can frame it and hang it in your office."

Gil raised his eyebrow " You're blaming me? I'm not the one who quit my job and decided to take off for a few hours and not tell anyone where to find you, not let anyone know that you're okay, jeez Cath what's going on with you?"

"Nothing! Nothing is wrong with me, I'm fine, it's you, you have this problem where you get involved with things that don't have anything to do with you, Like now for example. I'm home and yet you're still here, probing me on the oh so secret life that I don't even have."

"I'm not probing you it was a simple question, you're not yourself lately , your so.. you've changed, there I said it, and you can't deny it, Cath I'm worried about you!"

"Well don't be" she snapped back " I'm not a baby, you're not my father," she paused "You're not my friend,"

"Since when?" he whispered trying to mask the hurt he as feeling.

"I lost you a long time ago, you were never there when I just needed to ..." she stopped herself " Why are we even talking about this? Just go home Gil. I can't do this now"

"Well I want to!" he raised his voice stopping her in her tracks " We are going to talk about this, you can't just wake up one day and decided you don't need your best friend anymore, you just can't do that to a person!"

Catherine shrugged " I didn't think you cared, you didn't care last week when the lab's reputation was on the line! Not about me anyway. Other wise you would have know, and you wouldn't have been such a selfish jerk about the whole thing."

"About what whole thing?" he replied "About the fact that you picked up a complete stranger at a bar, who wouldn't have had a second thought about taking what he wanted from you? About the fact that he became a potential suspect in a double murder case? And the fact that you tried to hide it?" he paused " From me?"

"I don't see what it had to do with you, my wanting to tell you was like a courtesy. My life is my business, I don't probe you and judge you about the things you do or don't do with your life, like Lady heather..or Terri..or Sara!"

"What do any of those women have to do with it? And a courtesy what the hell does that even mean. I only stepped in because I was..am worried, you're not acting like the Catherine I know and love, you're acting like this.." he stammered " Like a .."

"A whore, A slut.. What? Did Ecklie tell you to come here and lay it out for me? Did he tell you to come here, to tell me what a slut I am what an embarrassment to the lab I've been?"

"No!" he replied "And where are you getting that from. I came here because I care about you, you're my best friend, I came here because I don't want to lose you, I came here because it occurred to me the moment I found out he was a suspect that I could have lost you! You could have died, he could have been the killer and one of those women that were killed could have been you."

Catherine glared at him but didn't say anything

"It hurt me to have to stand there next to you and listen to the things he was saying, he didn't know you and he was making all these assumptions and judgments. And then I see the scratch on your face and I know you say he didn't do it but, whether he did or he didn't you got it because he was a jerk, not because I'm the jerk." he sighed "Whatever, I'm sorry I came here, I had no right after the way I treated you, I'm sorry, Lindsey called me and she was worried...I...,"

Gil stopped in mid phrase and waited for a reply, When she retreated to making no contact like she had when she first arrived he gave up.

Without another word he walked out into the rain.

tbc


	6. 6

Title :Why he won't go out

This is just like my alternate ending...you know how it is.

Spoilers : Weeping Willows

Disclaimer: I don't own anything

* * *

Without another word he walked out into the rain. He stood on the front porch his hand still on the closed doorknob.

He sighed, as his eyes began to tear. How could she say they weren't friends anymore?

Gil didn't know but then and there he decided he still wanted her as his friend and he wasn't going to let her push him away. Without knocking he turned back around and rushed inside.

"What know?" she snapped see him enter through the door " What could you possibly have to say to me that you need to keep coming back?"

Gil walked up to her and stared deep into her eyes.

"What?" she snapped again.

Gil didn't speak he softly brushed his hand against her cheek " I'm not going to lose you." he whispered " I won't let you push me away."

Catherine sighed " You're the one who did most of the pushing."

Gil nodded " Maybe so, but I don't want to do it anymore, I want to pull you back."

"I don't have time for this, I have a kid upstairs who is probably going to tell me how much she hates me any minute, and I want you to leave so you don't have to hear it."

Gil shook his head no and took her face in his hands.

Catherine opened her mouth to protest. Before anything could come out she felt his lips press against hers. Gil then pulled away. Catherine didn't say a word to him so he leaned forward once again and continued the kiss.

Catherine closed her eyes and let her heart lead her. She waited for a second and then began to kiss him back. Her hands wrapped around his neck and his wrapped around her waist. The kiss grew intense as Gil led her toward the couch.

Catherine felt them moving and opened her eyes, there staring back at her was Adam, what the hell had happened, she thought that she was with Gil. When her eyes slipped closed she was certain he was the one there with her. He pushed against him trying to get him off of her. " NO!" she whimpered " Adam. Stop!" she pulled away at what she saw. She stood there and stared at the man in front of her , her hands began to tremble, her heart began to pound.

"Catherine? What's the matter?" Gil asked when he noticed the fear that was vivid in her eyes. " Cath," he stepped forward and reached out his hand.

Catherine closed her eyes and counted to three, quickly she opened them again and there was Gil standing in front her, staring of out concern as to what had just happened.

Catherine backed away " I'm sorry" she whispered " I thought you were..." she stopped looking at over at Lindsey who was at the top of the stairs. " I was..."

Gil walked toward her " Cath, it's okay, it's me..Gil..Adam's not here, he's not going to hurt you."

Catherine's head began to spin, everything was happening so fast. She looked from Lindsey and back to Gil she then turned and ran toward the bathroom. Slamming the door shut behind her she slid to the floor and cried.

"Mom?" Lindsey ran to the bottom of the stairs and glared at Gil. "I told you she was scared, I told you that she needed you."

"Lindsey I.." Gil stopped mid sentence when Lindsey ran to the bathroom door. " Mom?" she knocked " Mom please let me in."

Catherine didn't answer

"Mom...please I want to see you, I want to make sure you're okay..."

Still no reply, all the two could hear were faint sobs coming from Catherine

Lindsey turned to Gil who was standing beside her. " Cath..come on open up."

Lindsey shrugged and pressed her back against the wall, for the next hour the two of them sat outside the bathroom door in silence, waiting for Catherine to come out.

It was Lindsey who finally broke the silence

"uncle Gil?" she paused as he turned to face her " Do you think she'll be okay? I haven't seen her like this since daddy died."

Gil nodded " You're mom's really strong and brave..she'll be fine, she just needed to now that you'll be there for her and that she has friends that will be there for her."

Lindsey sighed "Like you?"

Gil nodded " yeah like me."

"Mom was really upset, she thinks you hate her..." another pause " did you really call her all those horrible names?"

Gil glanced at her a little shocked " No Lindsey, of course not.I would never"

"So then why did she say it then,do you think that she's..." Lindsey paused once more " What exactly is it, I mean kids at my old school used to say to other people all the time, sometimes my dad would say it too but I really never knew what it meant."

Gil pulled himself closer to Lindsey. " It's not important, it's just a terrible word that people use when they want to hurt someone."

Lindsey nodded "oh...was it Adam?I mean its just that" she stammered " I..I know he liked my mom, I just have a like a sixth sense for that, and I kinda of figured out that he wanted my mom. to... to..."

Gil watched as Lindsey tried to have this adult conversation with him

"But my mom didn't want to and even though he keeps telling me that the only reason she is sad is because of the fight she had with you, I know there is something more. I heard her dreaming and I figured it out..I know Adam tried to hurt her or wanted to hurt her and I saw her freak out just now with you. She wouldn't do that unless she was afraid."

Gil sighed " You're mom will talk about what happened when she's ready Lindsey, she knows that you'll listen to her."

Lindsey nodded " I guess but it's bad that she is keeping it inside."

Gil nodded " I know...I know it is..."

With that the two heard the bathroom door unlock and turned to see it slowly open. Catherine emerged, her eyes red from rubbing, her face stained with tears. " We, have to talk." she whispered.

TBC


End file.
